Chile opens lithium salt flats for investment, saves two for state control

Chile's government on Tuesday opened up more than two dozen lithium salt flats to private investment, while reserving the prolific Atacama and Maricunga deposits for state majority control in lithium extraction.

The long-anticipated announcement sheds light on how President Gabriel Boric's government plans to carry out a policy announced last year to boost state control over the South American country's lithium industry, the world's second-largest after Australia.